


Crossing Paths, Only Now Meeting

by stellarparallax



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, College, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 07:56:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15238893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarparallax/pseuds/stellarparallax
Summary: Lance has had it with the inconsiderate people who lived in his residence hall. Not for the first time, he had to stay in the laundry room, waiting for the people using their dryers to collect their laundry.Except, this time the culprit was Takashi Shirogane.





	Crossing Paths, Only Now Meeting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nextredpaladin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nextredpaladin/gifts).



> This is a pinch hit for nextblackpaladin (tumblr) for the Voltron Summer Gift Exchange! I hope you like it!

Lance clicked his tongue. 

He’d been waiting for the last twenty minutes for the people using the dryers to collect their laundry. At this rate, his clothes were going to stink by the time he finally got to put them in the dryer. It was unbelievable how inconsiderate the other people in his residence hall could be. In the five years of living there, he’d probably wasted at least a solid year just waiting for a dryer to be available. How hard was it to get laundry on time? Set a timer. Stay in the laundry room until it’s done. Lance didn’t care what method they used as long as it worked.  When he heard the footsteps of someone walking into the laundry room, he almost yelled out in relief. 

“Waiting for the dryers?”

Without looking at the person speaking to him, Lance responded, “No, I’m getting a headstart on my modelling career. I hear that models that can stand waiting for laundry for twenty minutes are in demand right now.”

The person paused before saying, “Well, you look good.”

Lance could hear a smile in that voice. It was enough to drive him mad.

“Can you  _ please _ just get your laundry and—” Lance said as he turned around, finally seeing who he was talking to.

The entire student body of Garrison U knew who Takashi Shirogane was. He was that impossibly attractive research fellow of Professor what’s-his-name. His amazing undergraduate paper was the reason why Lance even decided to go to Garrison U. He was his hero. 

Of course, before he got into college, Lance didn’t know what he looked like. All he knew was that he was a name on a fantastic paper he read for class. He didn’t even look him up online to see what he looked like. He didn’t want to have any expectations that could ruin the first time he’d get to talk to him. It was just his luck that the first time he got to talk to him turned out to be when he almost went off on him. 

“I’m sorry. I took a nap while waiting for my laundry to dry and I slept past my alarm. L-l-let me make it up to you. I’ll… I’ll buy you dinner.”

Lance almost forgot to breathe. “Excuse me?”

“Is tonight good for you? I know it’s really short notice, but I’m driving to the next state for a conference after I get off work tomorrow. And when I get back in a week, I’ll have to—”

“Tonight is good! Perfect!” Lance’s voice cracked.

“Great! Meet me at the parking lot at six thirty?”

“That’s fine with me… Mr Shirogane?”

“Oh please, call me Shiro. We’re going on a date after all.”

“Date?” Lance’s face flushed scarlet.

“Yeah. Wear something cute.”

Shiro picked up his basket of clothes and walked towards the door. Before he left, he turned around to look back at Lance. Lance could have sworn he saw him wink. It took him until he started the dryer to realise that he had a date with the man he’s had a crush on for two years. 

 

* * *

 

Since Lance collected his laundry from the dryer, there hadn’t been a moment of peace in his apartment.  Normally, Lance was pretty good at dressing up for dates. He even had his wardrobe categorised by eatery type. But this wasn’t any ordinary date. He was going out with Takashi Shirogane. Everything had to be perfect. He must have had tried on at least twenty outfits before giving up and asking Hunk for his opinion. 

“Does this shirt go with these pants? Do these shoes make me look short? HUNK!” Lance threw a cushion at Hunk. “HELP ME.”

Hunk picked up the cushion and threw it back at Lance. “What’s wrong with you? Just put something on and go. You have twenty minutes left.”

“He told me to wear something cute.”

“Hello Kitty t-shirt.”

Lance threw another cushion at him.

“FINE, I’ll help you.”

Hunk put down his Playstation console and walked over to the pile of clothes that Lance had out next to the full-length mirror. He inspected the clothes, taking quick glances at Lance as he did. Finally, he picked up a black button-down and a navy blue sweater and handed them to Lance.

“Here you go. It’ll highlight your eyes. Wear those pants that make your legs look amazing.”

“Thank you… I owe you one.”

“Do the dishes for the rest of the week and we’ll call it even.”

Lance would have protested, but he was already short on time. He rushed over to his bedroom to change without saying anything to Hunk. After getting dressed, he saw that he had another ten minutes to spare. He took out his eyelash curler and began to curl his eyelashes. Just as he was done, his alarm rang. His breath hitched. It was time.

He quickly grabbed his belongings and went downstairs.

When he got to the lobby, Shiro was already waiting for him. He was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a dark grey blazer. His white forelock had been slicked back, giving Lance a good look at the forehead that he was tempted to kiss. It was definitely unfair how attractive he was. 

God, Lance thought, his cheekbones were so sharp.

“You look… gabloobloo.”

“Thanks, you too,” Shiro chuckled.

Lance felt his cheeks burning as he squeezed his eyes shut. The date hadn’t even started and he had already embarrassed himself. He should have declined the offer. At least then Shiro would never know that he was a mess. 

“S-so,” Lance said nervously, “Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll love it. It’s delicious, it’s value for your money… McDonald’s, have you heard of it?”

“Oh. Alright then.” Lance tried not to sound too disappointed. After all, it wasn’t like Shiro really owed him anything. 

“I’m kidding.” Shiro nudged Lance in the rib. “There’s this pizza place a few blocks down that does amazing garlic knots. You like those right?”

“Wait, how did you—”

“My car’s parked over there. Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 

It had been two weeks since their date. Shiro had given Lance his number “just in case”, but Lance had been too nervous to call. He still wasn’t sure if it was a one-time thing or not. He figured that the longer he put off asking, the longer he could go on pretending that there was a chance that Shiro would ask him out again.  Besides, it wasn’t like Shiro had contacted him either. He did say that he would be busy once he came back from the conference, but really, how long would sending a text message have took?

Lance decided that he wasn’t going to let it bother him. It was a good date and he’d try to remember it as positively as possible. 

Hunk had asked him to meet him at the engineering block so that they could go for lunch together. Lance was pacing back and forth, wondering what was taking Hunk so long. He was about to call Hunk when he heard a familiar voice. 

“Lance?”

He turned around. “Shiro, hi!”

“What are you doing here? It’s a little far from communications block.”

“Wait, first you know that I like garlic knots and now you know that I’m a communications major. Are you a research fellow or a private investigator?”

“It’s not what you think. Okay, uh, you had a part-time job in your undergraduate years, right?”

“Yeah, I was a waiter.”

“Right. Do you remember serving this really dressed up guy who had his hair cropped really short? He just got stood up for a date and you talked to him?”

The thing was that the person Shiro described was probably one in the thousands of customers he served while he was working at the restaurant. For some reason, people who went there on dates often got stood up. It was like the establishment was cursed. 

“Uhm, maybe?”

“That was me! We talked and you told me that you were a communications major and you liked garlic knots. You really cheered me up that night. I may have had a crush on you since.”

“How long ago was this?”

“Three years.”

Lance’s heart was so full he thought it was going to burst.

“Wait, you had a crush on me for three years and you never told me? Oh my God, you planned the laundry thing, didn’t you?”

Shiro hung his head in embarrassment.

“You dork,” Lance giggled before giving him a peck on the cheek. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading till the end! I would really appreciate it if you left kudos and comments.
> 
> Come scream at me @stellar-parallax on tumblr!


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